Quadriplegic Wins Delay Of Eviction

A wheelchair-bound quadriplegic has won a legal round in his ongoing battle with the Broward County Housing Authority: He won`t face eviction from his public-housing apartment for at least six months.

Attorney Howard Nussbaum obtained the delay for Ralph Comeau, 49, who lives in the Highland Gardens complex near Pompano Beach, by persuading County Court Judge Thomas Lynch to transfer the case to Circuit Court.

Both Nussbaum and Norman Marcus, the attorney for the Housing Authority, agreed Wednesday that it probably will take at least six months for the case to be prepared and go to trial before a jury.

``Legally, of course, they cannot kick him out before the case comes to trial. There is some amount of delay involved,`` said Nussbaum, who is with the Legal Aid Service of Broward County.

County officials filed the eviction notice against Comeau in April, calling him a ``threat to the health or safety of other tenants or employees`` at the public-housing complex.

Officials contended in court records that the outspoken handicapped-rights activist had threatened to shoot several people, insulted others and been extremely disruptive in the complex.

Nussbaum, on the other hand, charged that housing officials filed the eviction notice because Comeau was pursuing a complaint against a building manager who entered Comeau`s apartment without his permission.

The officials ``brought the action for eviction in bad faith in an attempt to chill the exercise by the defendant of his right to complain about the building manager,`` Nussbaum wrote in court documents.

The case was transferred to Circuit Court because Nussbaum filed a counterclaim seeking more than $5,000 in damages and attorney fees from the Housing Authority.

The attorney also wants Lynch, who was assigned to the case as an acting circuit judge, to bar officials from entering Comeau`s apartment, from denying him a grievance hearing and from retaliating against Comeau.

Nussbaum said Wednesday that Comeau`s health has continued to deteriorate -- he has muscular dystrophy, suffered a severe stroke in February and has a variety of other conditions.

``Seeing as they`re trying to evict a dying man, the issue may be resolved before the case goes to trial,`` Nussbaum said.